GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.6) CWE-665 vulnerability in @openzeppelin/contracts. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
OpenZeppelin Contracts initializer reentrancy may lead to double initialization
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
@openzeppelin/contractsnpmDescription
Impact
Initializer functions that are invoked separate from contract creation (the most prominent example being minimal proxies) may be reentered if they make an untrusted non-view external call.
Once an initializer has finished running it can never be re-executed. However, an exception put in place to support multiple inheritance made reentrancy possible in the scenario described above, breaking the expectation that there is a single execution.
Note that upgradeable proxies are commonly initialized together with contract creation, where reentrancy is not feasible, so the impact of this issue is believed to be minor.
Patches
A fix is included in the version v4.4.1 of @openzeppelin/contracts and @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable.
Workarounds
Avoid untrusted external calls during initialization.
References
https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/pull/3006
Credits
This issue was identified and reported by @chaitinblockchain through our bug bounty on Immunefi.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, or need assistance executing the mitigation, email us at [email protected].
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @openzeppelin/contracts | ≥ 3.2.0&&< 4.4.1 | 4.4.1 |
| 📦npm | @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable | ≥ 3.2.0&&< 4.4.1 | 4.4.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @openzeppelin/contracts. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update @openzeppelin/contracts to 4.4.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-9c22-pwxw-p6hx across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.